The Republic of Ireland must take the most daunting route possible to the World Cup after the draw for next month's play-offs pitted them against the 2006 finalists France. The French are widely regarded as the strongest of the European group runners-up, but Ireland's manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, has insisted his team have nothing to fear after emerging unbeaten from a qualifying grouping containing the world champions, Italy.

"These games are like cup finals, we have come through the qualification group and are one of only five teams in Europe with an unbeaten record, that will give us self-belief going into these games," Trapattoni said. "We have come out of a group containing the current world champions, Italy, and have got positive results against them in both games. Now we face the 2006 World Cup finalists and our results to date will give us the conviction and the belief that we can get a result."

The Italian admitted, however, that the tie represents his team's toughest task to date. "We have done well so far but over the 180 minutes we must give something additional and we will have to be even more concentrated and focused than we have been until now."

While the manager professed to be unperturbed by the outcome of the draw, being paired with France has aggravated the Irish sense of grievance at Fifa's decision to divide the draw into seeded and non-seeded countries, which had the effect of ensuring that glamorous sides such as France and Portugal could not be drawn against each other. It had not been made clear at the start of the campaign that those would be the terms, although seeding was used at this stage four years ago.

"The seeding thing is totally unfair," said the Republic's goalkeeper, Shay Given. "As one of the smaller countries it's hard enough to qualify at the best of times. To change the rules a couple of weeks before the end of the campaign is ridiculous. But that is what they have done."

Given did identify one upside to the seeding controversy, explaining that the perceived injustice has heightened Irish players' zeal for victory. " The seeding thing has spurred us on a bit more, you think the whole world is against you," he said.

Like his manager, Given added that Irish resolve has also been fortified by their campaign so far. "We got results in Italy [1-1] and Bulgaria [1-1] and there is great belief that we can go to these big nations and get results," he said.

Those results bear testament to the progress the Republic have made under Trapattoni. The Italian has brought the tactical rigour that his inexperienced predecessor, Steven Staunton, lacked, and turned a sometimes shambolic side into a well-drilled outfit that offer few opportunities to opponents. Nor do Ireland create many chances, however, and Trapattoni has been criticised for being cautious to the point of constraining the team. He has been widely panned for his refusal to select one of the country's most creative midfielders, Sunderland's Andy Reid. Naturally, with the team just two games from the World Cup, the Football Association of Ireland make no apologies for the manager's methods. "We don't lose games on many goals, we don't win games on many goals," said FAI chief executive, John Delaney. "I wouldn't expect that pattern to change."

The criticism of Trapattoni is slight compared to the barrage of hostility that has been directed at his France counterpart, Raymond Domenech. Under fire since France's dismal displays at Euro 2008, Domenech presided over a stuttering start to the current campaign and has faced widespread calls for his dismissal amid a belief that his defensive instincts are perverse at a time when the team's best players are attackers. While it is true that Les Bleus tend not to score as often as their talent suggests they should, Thierry Henry and Franck Ribéry remain consistent threats and Domenech can deflect grumbles about the sub-standard performances of Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema by pointing to the huge impacts made recently by two other youngsters, Bordeaux playmaker Yoann Gorucuff and Toulouse striker Andre-Pierre Gignac. The contineud criticism, however, means there is no risk of French over-confidence playing into Irish hands. "We didn't want Ireland and they didn't want us," said Gerard Houllier, technical director of the French Football Federation. "I'd say it's 50-50."

Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo will make the World Cup only if Portugal overcome Bosnia-Herzogovina. The Portuguese have a wealth of creative power but finished second in their group behind Denmark because they failed to convert abundant chances. They corrected that towards the end of the campaign, partly by fast-tracking the naturalisation of Brazil-born striker Liedsen. Guus Hiddink's Russia will take on Slovenia, while Greece will duel with the runners-up from England's group, Ukraine.